The six hours before she was meant to check into Sakai Entertainment for her first day were the longest that Kana had ever lived. Not only had she been unable to sleep out of the sheer hatred that Jina forced out of her, but she had been dreading this moment even more. Standing right in front of her family apartment, she took quick breaths to calm herself down. She could do this. She didn’t need to talk to them at all.

  Exactly. She didn’t need to talk to them at all! That was the goal. She was above them now. She had the money and the contract. It was proof that she was better than them already. Her mother had a proper degree with a job, but she was barely managing to stay alive. But tonight, Kana was going to go to sleep on a comfortable air mattress. One that they could only dream of.

  She opened the door with her keys and closed it behind her.

  “Kana?”

  Her mother peeked from the kitchen with an indiscernible look on her face. Whether it was anger or worry, Kana could not make out. She was never able to make that out. So, she ignored her and walked straight into her room, closing the door behind her.

  “Ah, wassup, sis?”

  “Keiko?” Kana asked.

  “Yes, that’s me?”

  “Why are you sprawled on my bed as if you own it?”

  “Huh?”

  In her stupid striped t-shirt and blue shorts, she was comfortably lying down on the bed and reading a stupid shojo manga. What an embarrassment. Kana dropped her keys to the side and kicked Keiko in the stomach.

  “Aw, what the fuck?” She kept the manga down and looked at her, “Why’d you do that?”

  “Get off my bed and go back to your room.”

  “But you left! You’re the one who disappeared. Your room is, like, an actual room. I’m tired of living in the same room as the old hag.”

  “Keiko, have some respect while taking your own mother’s name.”

  “You call her a demonic bitch all the time. What do you mean? Don’t try to police me.”

  Kana sighed and pulled out the two duffel bags under her bed. She had already packed them three months ago when things had started going well at the training center. It had been her promise to herself that she would get out of here. Now, all she needed to do was pick them up and actually leave once and for all.

  “Whoa! I didn’t notice that at all. What’s in it?”

  Keiko leaned down and started opening the zip of one of the bags. Kana kicked her hands, which made her wince and pull it back up. But the small movement caused her to hit the bookshelf behind her and send everything on it crashing down on her head. Books, a couple of trophies, and finally, a framed picture of her and Keiko.

  She caught that final one before it could hit the ground and break. Then, with the quickest feat of movement she had ever pulled off, she opened the zip of her bag, threw it in, and then closed it again. Before Keiko could stop crying about her hand and look in her direction, Kana was already done hiding any proof of her actions.

  Looking at all of the books scattered across the floor now, she sighed and picked one of them up. For a second, Kana considered putting them back on the shelf one by one. That was, however, below her by this point. She left them all as they were, stood up, and picked up her bags. On the way, she made sure to kick some of her school books away for good measure.

  The fictional stuff was fine, but she wanted those trashy textbooks to know their place one last time before she left. Pieces of garbage. Waste of trees and ink. Blotch on all the environmental progress scientists had been making. Why would they actively complain about global warming being such a problem and then waste resources on something as useless as them? She knew not. The Paradox of the School Textbook.

  “Where are you going? Are you, like, actually going?” Keiko asked.

  This time, her voice was tinged with sadness.

  Kana looked at her and sighed. She put the bags down and walked over to the bed. Keiko sat straight with moist eyes and trembling lips. Kana held her younger sister’s chin and wondered why she was doing all this in the first place. She could just stay here with her forever, and Keiko would be happier. But she knew that was the wrong path to go down. Keiko’s life was not hers.

  She gave her sister a quick hug and rubbed her cheeks against her own. Then, as she pulled back, she gave her a pat on the head.

  “You’ll be fine. Just ignore that demonic bitch’s antics and focus on what you want to do, got it?”

  “You’re…not coming back?”

  “I’ll be in Katsuhara Apartments in Ward B. How about you come and visit instead?”

  Kana picked her bags up and opened the door. Behind her, Keiko fell off the bed and then pushed herself back up.

  Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation.

  “Ka…Katsuhara? Ward B? Like that big-ass apartment with all the windows and lights?”

  She smiled and closed the door behind her. Keiko rushed closer, but that was all for now. Kana had bigger fish to fry now that she was back in the main corridor. Because her mother was standing right there. Right in front of the door, with her hands on her hips. Just like she had been last time.

  “Where are you going?” She asked.

  “Work, mom. Step aside. I’m not gonna bother you again.”

  “And who allowed you to do all that? I never gave you any permission to work, got that? Stop all of this nonsense and keep those bags back inside. I’ll ask Keiko to move back to her room.”

  “What? What the fuck? No!” Keiko banged on the door from the other side, but Kana held it shut.

  She glared at her mother, letting her know that she was not afraid of her anymore. She had never truly been afraid, but she had been more willing to be subservient. But now, she knew exactly what she needed. And she knew that her mother was not going to give her any of that.

  “Watch your mouth, Keiko!” Her mom shouted, “And you, Kana, stop being so difficult. Go back inside. I am not giving you permission to leave the house.”

  “Ugh, can you just shut up?” Kana walked forward, and Keiko burst out of the room, “Eight hundred thousand yen a month and an apartment in Ward B. Do you understand what that is? Have you even seen that much money in your life? Have you?”

  “Eight…”

  “EIGHT HUNDRED THOUSAND!?” Keiko screamed and held onto her legs, “Take me too, sis! Quick, I’ll distract mom, and you can run. Then I’ll hop out of the window. Let’s go!”

  “Let…go!” Kana pulled her leg free and then looked at her mother, “Now, step aside. I’ve got better things to do with my life than be stuck here in this hellhole. I’m not staying a second longer than I have to.”

  “Take me, take me, take me. Pleaseeeeeee???”

  “Keiko! Go back to your room!” Their mother shouted, “You keep quiet, Kana. No number of lies is going to fool me. You’re not leaving!”

  Kana groaned and pulled out the papers from her pocket. She knew this situation would arise, so she had already taken some copies of the contract to show them. Throwing one at her mother’s face and calmly handing the second to Keiko, Kana bought enough time by getting them busy.

  Then, she slowly walked forward and pushed her shocked mother aside. She was still processing the number of zeroes she was seeing on the page, while Kana had already gotten bored of them. Kana was already looking at adding another zero to it someday. And then another, and then another. That was what her life was. Not like her mother, who was now on her knees with shock.

  “Sis…” Keiko looked up, “You…”

  Kana ignored her and opened the door. Quickly putting her shoes on, she stepped out and sighed. This was it, then. She took her first step, but then looked back at Keiko.

  Her sister already had tears in her eyes. But at the same time, a beautiful smile. One of the best and kindest she had ever seen on her face, “Good luck, sis. I’ll…come visit you, alright?”

  “Hmm.” Kana smiled and kept moving.

  Her mother did not say anything at all.

  _____________

  Now, for the second order of business – Emi Kitamura.

  Her first friend, best friend, crush, and girlfriend. Emi had been everything to Kana once upon a time. In some ways, she still was. But they had broken up a long time ago, and both of them had moved on to other things. Except that in Emi’s case, she was still living in the same house she had always lived in, and was easy to track down. Kana just wanted to say goodbye once and for all.

  She might have moved on, but that didn’t mean she had to stop loving her. She was sure that Emi loved her just as much today, too. They just knew that they weren’t meant to be together. There was no world in which they would live with each other and be happy. Not in this galaxy or this universe. Maybe if they permanently moved to that Monster Dimension, fate could arrange something.

  But that would mean telling her about the dimension in the first place, and that would put her life in danger.

  Kana took a right turn from her house and kept walking. Not far away was a public park. Emi lived in a western house right next to that park. They had often met up there to just talk, play around, and spend time with each other. There were a lot of memories attached to that place, which is why Kana took her time walking. If she was going to have to work with Jina, she needed this peace of mind for some time.

  She reached the park and looked inside.

  “What?”

  The words that left her mouth were quite mild for what she was seeing. Emi was standing right in the middle of the park in her full natural blonde glory. But for some reason, she was surrounded by three boys. Kana wasn’t sure what they were talking about, but her ex-girlfriend clearly wasn’t very pleased by what they were saying. She flinched and looked down as they continued to lord over her with smug expressions.

  A rage began to rise inside Kana. This is why she did what she did. Because if you didn’t, this is what you had to live with. Emi, just by virtue of being a half-foreigner, had always faced discrimination in one way or another. Just another way this rotten society ruined lives and then acted like it was the victim’s fault. One of the boys put his hand in her hair and tugged on it. Emi softly yelped.

  And that was it. That was all Kana needed to know that she didn’t care enough to keep this bullshit going anymore.

  Without a thought, she threw her bags down and raised her hand. Navigating that blue screen as if it were second nature, she ignored all the directives the training center had taught her and selected her weapon. Maybe if it were a random girl, Kana would have let it go. But this was Emi they were doing this to. Even if she hadn’t talked to her in four years, nothing had changed.

  Her love certainly hadn’t.

  Weapon Selected

  Grenade Launcher

  Level 5

  Overkill, yes. Way too overkill and maybe even a permanent brand risk. But by all means, she wasn’t associated with that brand just yet. She was acting purely as Kana Minami, the girl who lived nearby. That was all she needed to be to show these bastards hell. Kana gritted her teeth and prepped the weapon to shoot.